Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Update 19.18309 adds new spectator tools and campaign options

Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Update 19.18309 is now live with a wide set of changes covering spectator tools, campaign progression, the Scenario Editor, AI behavior, maps, balance, and quality-of-life improvements. The Age DE Team published the official Update 19.18309 notes on September 10, 2026. The update arrived alongside The Baltic Powers, whose September 10 launch introduced the Danes, Poles, and new game modes in the September 10 launch announcement for The Baltic Powers.

The update arrives alongside The Baltic Powers, which is already available. The expansion adds the Danes and Poles, Regicide and Independence modes, new maps, and other paid content, while Update 19.18309 also delivers free changes for the base game.

Among the most visible additions are a redesigned Spectator Mode interface, persistent Home City progression across campaign Acts, two new campaign difficulties, more detailed unit and building tooltips, new map-selection tools, and a revamped Scenario Editor. The patch also reduces the game’s installation size by 10 GB through unit texture optimizations.

Patch Notes for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition Update 19.18309

The notes below reproduce the official change list in its original order. Changes applied right before, during or after the Open Beta are marked with an asterisk in the original notes.

Build Spotlight

Quality of Life Improvements

Spectator Mode

The Spectator UI has been massively overhauled with extra displays and functionality:

• The new top panel provides an exhaustive breakdown of Team performance in both 1v1 and Team games. This includes aggregate data on the sides for Team Populations as well as Units and Buildings Defeated/Lost.
• The bars offer side-by-side comparisons for Total Resources Gathered, Military and Economic population counts across all competing teams.
• A new queue panel displays sent shipments for the currently viewed player.
• Both views can be toggled out through the Advanced Information toggle on the Spectator/Replay controls.
• The Player display now features colored player and team ID indicators. The third row shows current counts for: Military units, Civilian units, Sent shipments.
• The player view can be switched through the Ctrl+F+(Player number) shortcut.

Deck Manager

We have improved the accessibility of the Deck Manager through new hotkeys and displays:

• Hotkeys: Added hotkey support for faster deck management. The hotkeys are now displayed within the buttons’ tooltips.
  • Ctrl+N: Create a new deck.
  • Ctrl+S: Save a deck.
  • Del: Delete a deck.
  • Ctrl+Del: Fast-delete a deck (no prompt).
  • Ctrl+C or Ctrl+D: Copy/duplicate a deck.
• Dialogs: All deck-related prompts can now be quickly confirmed with the Enter key or closed with Esc.
• Revolution Decks: Added a new toggle above the Deck list that allows you to view the cards of Revolutions available to the selected civilization.
• Home City Data: The screen now shows the civilization name, its corresponding flag, as well as the level and name of the currently selected Home City.
• Technology Tree Button: Added to the Deck Manager above the “Clear” button.

Multiplayer

• Civilization Switch Button: Added a button to change civilization in the quick match searching dialog.
• Restored ESO Ranks: Replaced the ‘Casual Rank’ display with restored legacy rank titles such as Lance Corporal, Brigadier, and Major General.
• Rank Badge: Added an explanation in the badge’s tooltip how stars and stripes work.
• Top Bar: Re-arranged the buttons in the top bar according to most frequent use (from left to right): 1. Leaderboard, 2. Friends, 3. Chats, 4. Clans, 5. Settings.
• Friends list: Moved positive interactions to the top of the player context menu.
• Lobby Filter: Multiplayer Browser region filter default changed from Closest to All Regions.
• Quick Search: Now plays a sound when a match has been found.
• Play Button: Now has an icon assigned like all the other buttons.

User Interface

• Hitpoint Bars: Are now also displayed in the player colors in the HUD.
• Kill Counter: Added individual kill counters to units and buildings with attacks so you can finally verify the effectiveness of your cannons!
• Charged Actions: Can now be toggled on or off per unit selection via click or grid hotkey on the charged action icon.
• Delete Building Command: Added a new command that forces allied AI players to destroy any building highlighted by the player in the game world. Use it to claim Trading Posts for your own!
• Team Resources: Added a new check box to lobbies that shares all player resources across their team.
• Train & Research times: Tooltips of units, buildings, and technologies now display how many seconds it takes for training or research to be completed.
• Population & Garrison space: The statistics panel of buildings and ships now display how much population and garrison space they provide.
• Profile Icons:
  • Profile Icons related to specific DLCs (i.e. Knights of the Mediterranean or The African Royals) are now unlocked when owning those DLCs.
  • Profile Icons related to the previous USA and Mexico DLCs are now unlocked for owners of the updated base game.
  • Profile Icons not related to DLC, but to past events are now unlocked through the The Baltic Powers DLC.
  • Bombard Brawl Profile Icon rewards are now properly awarded when attaining the intended score.
• XP Rate: You can now see your current XP rate in the tooltip of the Home City button.
• Scores: Names of resigned or defeated players are now struck out in the scoreboard.
• Minimap: Added a button and hotkey to reset the minimap orientation.
• Photo Mode: The Photo Mode button is now also shown when the game is over.
• Technology Tree:
  • Added new sheets that show all Natives, Mercenaries, and Outlaws.
  • Added Revolutions and their unique units to every civilization’s technology tree.
• Postgame Statistics:
  • Added star icons to cells in order to see the best statistics more easily
  • Hovering flags in Player Summary now displays the civilization name
  • Fixed the Postgame Timeline getting stuck on the screen if the game ends while viewing it.
• Map Selection:
  • Added a search bar.
  • It is now possible to navigate and cycle through maps by hitting the starting letter keys, i.e. the key C will jump to California.
  • ‘All Maps’ is now automatically re-selected if all filters were manually toggled off, preventing the map list from being displayed as empty.
• Lobby:
  • Now properly remember the last used civilizations and teams for AI players whenever applicable.
  • Changed the small icon button of the Technology Tree into a larger text button for better visibility.
• Home City: Pressing the Esc key now properly returns from the Home City to the World view.
• Menu:
  • Added new ‘Campaign’ sub-menu to the main with: Story Mode, Historical Battles, Tutorial, The Art of War and Challenges buttons in it.
  • Removed ‘Tutorial’ button from ‘Tools’ sub-menu.
  • Moved ‘News’ button to ‘Tools’ sub-menu.
  • Added ‘Scenario Editor’ Button to Main Menu.
• Localization:
  • Sejm: Fixed incorrect translations in several languages.*
  • Brazilian Portuguese:
    • Fixed the incorrect use of ‘Fuzileiro‘ (Fusilier) for Skirmisher-type units and vice versa.
    • Fixed outdated descriptions for:*
      • The Warrior (Aztec Age-up, II): Corrected 1 Skull Knights to 2 Skull Knights
      • Calmecac (I): No longer mentions a Warrior Priest.
      • Summer Palace (Chinese Age-up, V): Corrected 10 Iron Flails to 2000 food.
      • Guard Azap: Corrected from “Proteger o Azap” to “Azap da Guarda”.
  • Volunteer: Standardized the National Guard name across Latin-script languages.
  • German: Big spawn buttons in Native American Town Centers are now called: Vorhut, Gefolge and Kriegszug, instead of the modern Spähtrupp, Stoßtrupp, Kampftrupp.
  • Spanish:
    • Corrected Esquimal to Inuit.
    • Corrected the translation of Espingol from “Trabuco” to “Espingarda Danesa”.
    • Corrected the translation of Gun Running from “Correr con armas” to “Contrabando de armas”.*
  • French:*
    • Winged Hussar: Fixed being labeled as a French unit.
    • TEAM Times of Troubles: Corrected from “Époque conflictuelle” to “Temps des troubles”.
    • Lowlander: Corrected from “Habitant des plaines” to “Lowlander”.
    • Hindu Villager: Corrected from “Village hindou” to “Villageois hindou”.
    • Fish Trap: Corrected “Trappe à poissons” to “Piège à poissons”.
  • Malay: Corrected the mistranslations of Poles from “Tiang” to “Orang Poland”.*

Free DLC Content

To celebrate the release of The Baltic Powers DLC, we are excited to share these gifts with every loyal fan of Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition to enjoy:

New Taunts

• Added over 25 new taunts to fire up the next team game!
  • “Is that what you call a raid??”
  • “Excellent work, men!”

LIVONIA Revolution

This new Baltic revolution is all about the power of knights and Hanseatic trade. Construct Forts and unleash the Teutonic Knights!

• Fortress Age Revolution
• Available to: Germans, Maltese, Poles, Swedes

PRUSSIA Revolution

The longly requested Prussian glow-up for the Germans is here: Ditch the heavy Zweihänder and Crossbow for some new firepower!

• Industrial Age Revolution
• Available to: Germans

Fish Traps

Fishing Boats of all civilizations can now construct Fish Traps! For a cost of 80 wood this slow, infinite source of food can only be built in the vicinity of Docks.

Whaling Ships

Three new kinds of Whaling Ship cards have been added to civilizations that had notable, historical whaling industries:

• [NEW] Recruit Whaling Ships (II, 400c*): 2 Whaling Ships.
  • French, Haudenosaunee, Japanese (2x), Portuguese, Spanish
• [NEW] Hire Whaling Crew (II, 400c*): 1 Whaling Ship with 4 Harpooners inside.
  • British, Chinese, Dutch, French, Germans, Japanese (2x), Portuguese, Russians, Swedes, United States
• [NEW] Nantucket Sleighride (III, 600c*): 2 Whaling Ships with 4 Harpooners inside each.
  • Dutch, British, United States

NATIVE ALLIES CARDS

Aside from the Danes & Poles the following civilizations will also receive cards from the new minor civilizations:

• [NEW] 10 Stuart Allies (III, 500c): Sends 10 Clansmen.
  • British
• [NEW] 4 Stuart Allies (III, 500c): Sends 4 Bagpipers.
  • British
  • Indians
• [NEW] 24 Stuart Allies (IV, 1000c): Sends 24 Lowland Dragoons with Royal Guard status.
  • British
  • French
• [NEW] 4 Sámi Allies (III, 500c): Sends 4 Sámi Noaidi, powerful gatherers.
  • Russians
  • Swedes

MERCENARY CARDS

The Baltic Powers introduces 3 new mercenaries which are also shared with Home Cities of Definitive civilizations:

• [NEW] 4 Gallowglasses (II, 500c): Ships 4 Gallowglass Mercenaries.
  • British, French, Maltese, Spanish
  • Quick heavy Gaelic Swordsman that inflicts damage in an area.
• [NEW] 4 Cranequiniers (II, 500c): Ships 4 Cranequinier Mercenaries.
  • French, Maltese, Portuguese
  • Heavy mounted Crossbowman good against infantry.
• [NEW] 2 Fortified Wagons (II, 600c*): Ships 2 Fortified Wagon Mercenaries.
  • Germans (+2 Uhlans), Russians
  • Artillery wagon that absorbs damage. Good against artillery and infantry.

Burgher Militia

Aside from the Poles the following civilizations will also have their Militiamen replaced with the anti-cavalry Burgher Militias:

• Dutch, Germans

Game

Stability and Performance

• Game Size: Reduced the game size by -10 GB through unit texture optimizations
• Anti-Cheat: Implemented additional safety measures to prevent code injection exploits and ensure fair online play.
• Browser UI: Fixed Multiplayer Browser “Loading…” notice hidden behind lobbies.
• Spectator UI: Fixed several Spectator hitching errors for long matches.
• Quick Match: Fixed Quick match lobbies bugging out when a teammate leaves while searching.
• Memory: Fixed various CPU and GPU memory leaks.
• Home Cities: Fixed a freeze lasting several seconds that was related to particle effects and occurred frequently in Home City scenes.
• Fixed a case where the game would not be centered properly when alt-tabbing during initial loading.
• Stability: Fixed multiple crashes.

Graphics

• Clouds: Removed cloud shadows rendering on water that were often interpreted as a bug.
• Trees: Added proper terrain blending to fix noisy pixelations on tree trunks.
• Anti-Aliasing: Is now disabled by default to ensure smoother low-end performance.
• Arsonist: Fixed the missing player color on the unit icon.
• Mameluke: Updated unit visuals to match the high hitpoint pool.
• Chevauleger (House of Wittelsbach): Received a unique horse skin.
• Lipka Tatar (House of Jagiellon): Optimized the topology of the rider model.
• Carolean: Added a new unit design for the Guard level.
• Musketeer: Updated the chevrons on the upper arms of the Guard Musketeer.
• War Dog: Now uses separate graphics from Explorer Dogs to emphasize different stats.
• Boar: Added new visuals for the treasure guardian.
• Japanese Units: Fixed unit visuals not updating immediately upon research.
• Morutaru: Fixed unit visuals not updating at all when researched.
• Rocketeer (Indian): Updated visuals of the upgraded Indian Arsonist.
• Spy: Now wear a historical mask when upgraded via Assassins or Agents.
• Capitol:
  • Corrected the tower’s texture of the Eastern European Capitol.
  • Added the missing hedgerow for the Eastern European Capitol.
  • Restored the original version with the Orthodox roof only for the Russian civilization.
• Church, Commandery, Depot: Now have a unique Maltese building skin.
• Mosque: Added a unique building icon.
• Revolutions: The main building in revolutionary home cities now have varying facades and skies in the background.
• Compendium: Fixed the outdated Cuirassier image.
• Fencible (Canada): Fixed the missing player color support for the uniform.
• Eclaireur (French Revolution): Updated the icon to match the unit visuals.
• Thor (Swedish Explorer): Fixed a bug with the Thor explorer skin not being able to perform the Heavy Strike ability.
• Wood Crate (Native American): Fixed a particular model of a wood crate with a distant log that had negative consequences for obstruction and pathing.
• Dry Dock: Now supports player color.

Audio

• Adjusted the volume of the female Mexican General voiceovers.
• Fixed the missing Revive and Ransom sounds for the Thor skin.

Modding

• Implemented DataValidation game config, to allow for quickly identifying common game data setup issues.
• Implemented support for enabling Fame resource displaying for a single civilization through the DisplayFame attribute.

Gameplay Changes

General

• Auto Scout: Feature expanded to additional scouting units such as: Native Scouts, Chasquis, Eagle Scouts, etc.
• AI Melee: Fixed a bug that lifted range restrictions for melee attacks of infantry units when controlled by the AI.
• Cliffs: Ships can no longer unload units over cliffs.
• Snare: Duration of attacked units being slowed down reduced from 3s to 2.75s.
• Stealth:
  • Stealth units can no longer use stealth abilities in Multiplayer games if they are the only remaining units of a player.
  • Previously stealthed units now continue their original action even after they were discovered.
• Stampede: Fixed a glitch with the Royal Horsemen’s and Royal Dragoons’ stampede mode that made gathering impossible from hunted animals and gather buildings (such as Mills, Estates) affected by the mode.
• Hand Shock Infantry: Increased the selection decal sizes for Hand Shock Infantry units to reflect their higher obstruction radius.
• Shock Infantry: Renamed to ‘Shock Troops’ to prevent misleading players into thinking they’re Infantry units.
• Trading Ships: Can no longer be targeted by Broadside attacks.
• Age-up: Added Shift-A as Age Up shortcut for legacy hotkeys.
• Villagers: Will now properly go idle after 5 seconds instead of infinitely trying to gather from something they cannot reach.
• Defeated players:
  • Fixed units and buildings belonging to a resigned or defeated player continuing to attack.
  • Fixed automated spawn actions (such as Cannon spawns from Factories) continuing when player is defeated.
  • Trading Posts of defeated players are now immediately removed from the map, if no Trade Monopoly victory is active for the team. Additionally, their villagers cease gathering any resources.
  • Fixed Resign and Quit hotkeys not working.
• Artillery:
  • Shortened the boarding delay to Warships from 3 to 1.5 seconds.
  • Fixed artillery units from not unlimbering once in attack range.
  • Fixed a glitch where new artillery units such as Papal Bombards or Ottoman artillery units would rotate after attacking.

Units & Buildings

• Explorer: Fixed the redundant display of inactive attacks in the statistics panel.*
• Javelin Rider: Speed increased from 6.75 to 7.
• Pig:*
  • Obstruction radius decreased from 0.49 to 0.39 and LOS from 3 to 2.
  • Pigs now move very slowly outside the vicinity of Town Centers, Farm Buildings or Livestock Pens of the owning player.
  • Now have their fattening rate properly improved by Stockyards and Selective Breeding.
• City Tower: This capturable building can no longer be deleted.
• Community Plaza: Fixed a bug where units did not automatically start working at the Plaza when the Spawn point was set on the Plaza itself.
• Tribal Marketplace: Build time decreased from 30s to 20s.
• Wall: Hitpoints of wall segments reduced from 1000 to 750.*
• Wall Pillar: Updated the aura to account for reduced wall segment hitpoints and keep them at 1500 hitpoints.*
• Arsonist:
  • Ranged and melee damage increased by 50%. *
  • Negative multiplier against Artillery removed.
• Cranequinier: Melee damage reduced from 40 to 35.*
• Dahomey Amazon: 10% hand resistance changed to 20% ranged resistance. Cost reduced from 280c to 230c.
• Gallowglass: Melee resistance and Hitpoints reduced from 50% and 240 to 40% and 222. Updated walking animations in different stances.*
• Gatling Camel: Negative damage multipliers against Cavalry and Shock Troops removed. Also removed the 1.25x damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry.
• Giant Grenadier: Hitpoints increased from 250 to 260.
• Harpooner: Hitpoints and ranged damage decreased from 230 and 28 to 210 and 20.*
• Harquebusier: Melee damage reduced from 121 to 110.
• Inquisitor: Speed increased from 4.25 to 4.75 and melee damage from 15 to 18.
• L’il Bombard: Added 25% Siege resistance.
• Mounted Rifleman: Range increased from 15 to 18.
• Pandour: Fixed this Counter Skirmisher unit being incorrectly described as a Skirmisher.
• Royal Horseman: Hitpoints increased from 900 to 1200.
• Sailor: 30% Ranged resistance converted into 30% Melee resistance.*
• Whaling Ship:*
  • Cost increased from 350c to 400c 100w.
  • Hitpoints decreased from 1700 to 1500.
  • Fixed an issue where the ship built Trading Posts instead of Docks.
  • Fixed crashes related to the special ability and Home City preview.
• American Citadel (Maya): Can now train all Chinese Banner Armies.
• Black Brunswicker (House of Hanover): Moved the unit to the third slot for better grid hotkey use.
• Comanche Horse Archer (Comanche): Ranged damage increased from 13 to 15.
• Holcan Javelineer (Maya):
  • Now uses different animations per formation mode to communicate their configuration more effectively to all players.
  • Fixed the missing attack sound.
  • Fixed the building attack not using torches.
• Husky (Inuit): Cost increased from 70f 10w to 80f 10w. Hitpoint promotions decreased by 5% each.*
• Klamath Rifleman (Klamath): Hitpoints and ranged resistance increased from 135 and 25% to 160 and 30%.
• Lipka Tatar (House of Jagiellon): Cost increased to 80f 70w from 70f 60w.
• Lowlander (House of Stuart):*
  • Hitpoints of the infantryman increased from 130 to 135.
  • Train time reduced from 28s to 26s.
• Mapuche Bolas Rider (Mapuche): Ranged ROF improved from 3.5 to 3 and Target Lock added.
• Rattan Shield (Shaolin): Now uses run animations to reflect the walking speed and Shock Troop class.*
• Royal Musketeer (House of Bourbon): Melee resistance reduced from 40% to 30% and siege damage from 19 to 16.
• Sudanese Dervish (Sudanese): Damage increased from 9 to 12.
• Tatar Archer (Tengri Shrine): Hitpoints increased from 140 to 155.

Cards & Technologies

• Agents (II): Fixed a bug with the charged Pistol attack dealing hand instead of ranged damage.
• Capitalism (I): Coin Trickle Rate reduced from 1.65 to 1.6.
• Line Grenadiers (III): Now also enables the Grenadier’s upgrades in the Barracks.
• Riding School (II): No longer counterbalances the train time improvement for Hakkapelits and Lancers by -20%.
• Spies (V): Fixed the technology not being possible to research when the cost exceeded 100.000 resources

Native Technologies

• Crown Lands & Congress of Vienna (House of Habsburg): Technologies moved from Age 2 to Age 1.
• Local Forces (I, Somalis, Sudanese): Now available in Age 3.
• Maison du Roi (IV, House of Bourbon): Coin cost increased from 750 to 800.
• Red Sea Trade (I, Sudanese): Can now also construct Mountain Monasteries, Taverns, and Saloons.*
• Inuit Qimmit (Inuit): Cost increased from 200w to 200w 100c.*
• House of Hanover
  • Royal Scots Grey: Cost reduced from 500c 500f to 200c 200f.
  • Victorian Era: Fixed a bug with the technology’s costs resetting when clicking the icon with insufficient resources.
• House of Jagiellon
  • Folwarks: Technology moved from Age 2 to Age 1.
  • Jagiellon Inheritance (II): Fixed an issue with the Chinese Temple of Heaven Wonder granting 3 Covered Wagons and 1 Rice Paddy Riksha instead of 1 Covered Wagon and 3 Rice Paddy Rikshas.
  • Sarmatism (II): Now increases range of Lipka Tatars only by +1 (down from +2).
• House of Vasa
  • Koncerz (III): Technology removed.
  • [NEW] Rohatyna (III, 300f 300c): Arms Companions with bear spears that inflict bleeding damage over time and have a chance to stun their target.
• Houses of Phanar
  • Filiki Eteria (II): Technology moved from Age 1 to Age 2 and costs reduced to 400c (from 600c).
  • Athos Monastery: Now allows the United States to train Surgeons and Mexicans to train Priests.
• House of Wittelsbach
  • Philhellenism: Cost changed from 250w 250f to 300w. Technology moved from Age 4 to Age 1.
  • Oktoberfest (I): Now refunds 4% cost of each trained unit instead of 1%.
  • Alpine Horns: Cooldown reduced from 250s to 220s.
  • Schützenfest: Technology moved from Age 3 to Age 1.
• Seminoles
  • Seminole Guerilla Wars (I): Cost reduced from 350f 350c to 180f 180c.
  • Seminole Invincibles (I): Cost changed from 225f 225c to 200f 75c.
• Tengri
  • Kumis (I): Research time corrected from 10s to 30s.
  • Shaman Drums (I): Cost changed from 100c 100f to 150f. Research time corrected from 10s to 30s.
• Yoruba
  • Yoruba Herbalism (I): Cost reduced from 250f 250c to 150f 150c.
  • Yoruba Wrestling (I): Cost reduced from 300f 300w to 100f 100w.

Civilization Balance

Aztecs

• Eagle Knight: Now uses different animations per formation mode to communicate their configuration more effectively to all players. Fixed the missing attack sound. Fixed the building attack not using torches.
• Jaguar Prowl Knight: In Age 2 hitpoints and damage are now reduced by -20%. Original base stats are restored upon reaching Age 3.
• Warrior Priest: Train time increased from 45s to 50s.
• Calendar Ceremony: Is now 10% slower.
• Great Temple of Quetzalcoatl Support (IV): Corrected the amount of Jaguar Prowl Knights from 6 to 12.

British

• Start: Resources changed from 200f 300w to 250f 250w.
• Florence Nightingale (I): Healing range increased to 14 (from 12). Now also increases Manor Line of Sight by +2 and enables Surgeons in Manors.
• Gentlemen of the Pike (IV): Reduces Imperial Pikemen upgrade costs by -50% instead of -75%.

Chinese

• Acupuncture (III): Train time improved from -20% to -25% (Flying Crows & Cannons excluded).*

Danes

• Shipment Tax: Reduced the initial tax from 100c to 80c.
• Customs House: Cost increased from 100w 100c to 150w 150c. 1 Shipment (Customs House): Cost reduced from 750 of each resource to 500 of each resource. Shipment Delay (Helsingør Customs Chamber): Enemy card delay increased from 25s to 60s.
• Snaphane: Cost increased from 60f 25w to 70f 30w. Hitpoints reduced from 135 to 120. Added a 0.5x damage multiplier against Cavalry and Shock Troops. (Imperial) Friskytter (IV/V): Corrected the research time of the Snaphane Royal Guard and Imperial upgrade from 15s to 30s. Royal Service (III): Snaphaner now also grant 9 XP once trained or killed. Zealand Jaegers (III): Damage multiplier improvement against Artillery reduced from 2x to 1.5x. Siege resistance improvement reduced from +20% to 10%. Disruption (II): Fixed the missing damage multiplier against Villagers. Fixed the missing damage multiplier missing from the mounted unit version.
• Espingolen (IV, Kongeloven): Now enables Espingolen at the Fort.
• Lockbows (II): Crossbowman wood cost increased from 55w to 60w.
• Order of the Elephant (IV): Lowered the hitpoints improvements per promotion from +10/15/20% to +5/10/15%.
• Schumacher Rockets (IV): Hitpoints reduction increased from -40% to -50%.
• The Royalist (V): Corrected the missing Champion upgrade for Inuit Qamutiks.

Dutch

• Envoy: Can now construct Trading Posts by default. Build limits now increase by +2/+3/+5/+5 after Age 1.
• Ruyter: Obstruction radius increased from 0.49 to 0.59.
• Advanced Estates (II): Card availability corrected to Age 1.
• Belanda Hitam (IV): Fixed an issue that resulted in Akan Ankobias not being available on maps without Akan settlements. Fixed an issue where the TEAM Native Weapon Trade would lower build limits rather than increase them.*
• Peace of Münster (I): Now enables Envoys to also construct: Market, Livestock Pen, Dock, Church, Tavern, Arsenal, Capitol.
• Pioneers (I): Card removed.
• [NEW] Schutterij (I): Hitpoints and damage of Merchants notably increased. Envoys can enlist as Burgher Militias, but now cost more resources.
• Waardgelders (II): Now enables Swiss Pikemen in Age 2, but with Age 2 stats. Original strength restored in Age 3. Card arrives in 40s instead of 60s.

Ethiopians

• Gascenya: Hitpoints increased from 135 to 140. Melee damage reduced from 15 to 12, but damage multipliers against Cavalry and Shock Troops increased from 3x and 2.25x to 4x and 2.5x.
• Neftenya: Coin costs reduced from 70 to 65.
• Oromo Warrior: The charged musket attack is now disabled when in melee mode. Train time decreased to from 50s to 45s.
• Sebastopol Mortar: Explosive Shot damage increased from 60 to 80.*
• Mountain Monastery: Mine-less Mountain Monasteries can no longer be placed within a 65 radius of starting Town Centers until the Fortress Age. Fixed an issue where villagers would stop mining when a Mountain Monastery was built on top of a mine. Mountain Monasteries that were placed on a mine can now be converted into Mountain Chapels to free up build limits without XP penalty.

French

• Start: Removed the 50f starting crate.
• Coureur de Bois: Ranged resistance reduced from 40% to 30%.*
• Wilderness Warfare (II): Now grants only 15% hitpoints to Native Warriors and Coureurs des Bois (down from 20%).
• Old Guard (Edict of Nantes): Cost increased from 2000f to 2500f and no longer improves ranged resistance by +10%.*

Germans

• War Wagon: Added a rider to better distinguish between the unit’s different attacks.* Fixed the misleading unit description and outdated history text.
• Gran Colombia: Revolution removed.
• March Revolution (IV): Card removed.
• Prussia Revolution: Bolt-Action Rifles (Spandau Arms Factory): Cost increased from 450w 150c to 450w 250c. Hinterlader (Spandau Arms Factory): Cost increased from 600c to 600c 200w. No longer improves Artillery movement speed. Barricade Wagon (German Confederation): Now inflicts 0.5x damage versus Villagers. Settlers: The build limit can no longer be exceed when revolting to the German Confederation.
• Blood Brothers (IV): Mitigated the huge score increase after card arrival.*
• Polish Winged Hussars (IV): Now sends 9 Guard Winged Hussars of the Polish civilization. Cost of 500 food added.
• Prince-Electors (I): Corrected the population costs of Royal Hunters from 2 to 1.
• [NEW] Nuremberg Gunsmiths (II): Converts all Pikemen into Burgher Militias, who now lose hitpoints slower and can be trained from the Arsenal, +1 Arsenal Wagon.

Haudenosaunee

• Beaver Wars (IV): Ranged resistance of Rams and Mantlets reduced from 15% to 10%. Siege resistance of Mantlets reduced from 15% to 10%. Siege resistance of Rams reduced from 30% to 20%.
• Ram: Damage values are now properly halved in Cover Mode.

Hausa

• Lifidi Knight: Hitpoints increased from 375 to 390.
• Habbanaya (IV): Decreased Cattle to Influence exchange value from 70% to 60%.
• Hadejia Emirate (III): Now sends 4 Lifidi Knights and 3 Raiders instead of 3 Lifidi Knights and 4 Raiders.
• Koose (I): Villager gather work rate for Mill, Farm, Rice Paddy (food), Field (food), and Hacienda (food) increased from 10% to 15%.
• Loyal Warriors (III): Added a check to prevent trained Akan Ankobias granting free Influence when sending Loyal Warriors after the Gaananci card.

Inca

• Canoe: Unit added to the Dock.
• Chincha Raft: Build limit reduced to 7 from 8.
• Bolas Warrior: Melee damage increased from 10 to 15.
• Jungle Bowman: Hitpoints increased from 90 to 95.
• Huaraca: Range increased from 21 to 22 in Age 3. Siege resistance increased from 10% to 20%. Building damage increased from 46 to 50.
• Maceman: Melee attack rate improved from 2.25 to 2.*
• Plumed Spearman: Cost decreased from 100f 25w to 100f 20w.
• Kancha House: Hitpoints increased from 1600 to 1700.
• Chicha Brewing: Increased food production from 60% to 65%.
• Curare (II): Poison damage increased from 25% to 40%.

Indians

• Siege Elephant: Removed redundant fire modes.
• Urumi: Damage bonus against cavalry reduced from 0.75x to 0.6x.
• Zamburak: Hitpoints increased from 120 to 130.
• Royal Mint (III): Fixed a bug that granted +50% Mining rate instead of +25%.

Italians

• Architect: Untouched building foundations can now be overwritten by other players’ buildings. Buildings constructed by Architects now grant -50% less build XP.
• Basilica: Shipments can now be cancelled via the HUD.
• Broken Lance Company (II): Stradiot hitpoints and damage reduced by -20% in Age 2. Original base stats are restored upon reaching Age 3.
• Galleass: Roundel Attack area of effect increased from 1 to 2. Ram Attack damage increased from 350 to 400. Fixed a stuttering issue preventing the unit from firing consistently.
• Leonardo’s Tank: Siege Attack, Heliocentric Attack, and Toccata Attack damage increased from 100 to 300. Area of effect increased from 3 to 4.
• Papal Guard: Corrected the damage type of the Pistol Attack from melee to ranged damage.
• Pavisier: Cost changed from 50w 35f to 40w 45f.
• Incendiary Grenades: Fixed the Arsenal technology missing for Italians.*

Japanese

• Shrine: Increased gather rates per second from 0.133 food to 0.14 food, 0.095 wood to 0.1 wood, and from 0.095 coin to 0.1 coin.
• Seven Lucky Gods (I): Shrine XP generation increased from 0.323 to 0.34.
• Blue Guard (Dutch Consulate): Corrected the visuals from the Portuguese Legionario to the Dutch Blue Guard.
• Clan Offerings (II, Japanese Isolation): Each Castle spawns 1 Samurai after 30 seconds instead of 45 seconds.
• Meiji Restoration (IV, Japanese Isolation): Cost reduced from 4000 to 3000 export. Now replaces archaic Japanese units with European-style equivalents. Adds a generous Export trickle, but disables all other Consulate options, Hero retraining and greatly slows the XP rate.
• Dojo: Units are now also updated in the Meiji Restoration.*
• Good Faith Agreements (I): No longer affects units made available through Meiji Restoration.*
• Bakufu (IV): No longer impacts Heavy Cannon train time after Meiji Restoration.*
• Onin War (II): Now improves the the siege attack of Meiji Grenadiers.*

Lakota

• Bow Rider: Hitpoints increased from 225 to 230.
• Cetan Bowman: Damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry increased from 1.5x to 1.75x.*
• Tashunke Prowler: Now available in the Fortress Age. Hitpoints and damage reduced from 220 to 215 and from 15 to 14.
• 11 Bison (infinite, IV): Corrected the misleading number 13 on the card icon.*
• Marauders (IV): Moved to Age 3.*

Maltese

• Fixed Gun: Reduced population from 5 to 4.
• [NEW] 1 Culverin (III, infinite): Card added.
• German Tongue (I): Wood costs reduced from 450 to 425.

Mexicans

• Bandido: Damage of the charged Dynamite attack reduced from 20 to 17.
• Cuatrero: Area of Effect and Damage of the charged Lasso attack reduced from 2 to 1 and 20 to 18.
• Bad Boys: Outlaw train time reduced by -40% instead of -50%.
• Baja California Revolution: Soldier of Fortune: Bounty coin income reduced from 100% to 75%.* TEAM Trickle Economics: Trade routes now generate +50% resources instead of +60%. Robber Barons (Baja California): Added cost of 500 coin for the duration of the revolution. Removed upon returning to Mexico.
• Yucatan Revolution: Liberation March, Habanero Peppers, Chipotle Tactics: Cards added.
• British Weapon Trade (Maya Revolution): Now improves Light Cannon hitpoints by 50% instead of 70%.

Ottomans

• Start: Now starts with 350w instead of 400w.
• Abus Gunner: Damage reduced from 36 to 34.
• Bashibozuk: Ranged damage multiplier against Heavy Infantry reduced from 1.5x to 1.25x.
• Great Bombard: Now spawns 5s slower, matching the same rate as Heavy Cannons.
• Humbaraci: Reduced speed and ranged resistance from 4.5 to 4.25 and from 30% to 25%. Train time increased to 40s (from 38s). Negative damage multiplier against Cavalry further reduced from 0.4x to 0.25x.
• Janissary: Hitpoints reduced 215 to to 210.
• 5 Sipahi (III): Cost increased from 1000f to 1200f.
• 7 Humbaracis (IV): Card removed.
• Acemi Oglan School (IV): Now reduces Humbaraci food and coin costs only by -10% instead of -20%.
• Mosque Construction (III): Now reduces the costs of the advanced Mosque technologies enabled by the Palace Intrigue card by -30% (instead of -50%). Note that standard Mosque technologies continue to be discounted by -50%.

Poles

• Civilization Bonus: Buildings are now only 18% weaker instead of 25%. Town Centers are excluded.
• Retainer: Cost adjusted from 90f 60w to 90f 50w. Hitpoints increased from 200 to 210. Melee resistance reduced from 30% to 20%.
• Konfederatka Uhlan (IV, Treaty of Lublin): Reduced the Defence Promotions for hitpoints from +8/16/24% to +5/10/20%.
• Sobieski’s Janissaries (II, Treaty of Lublin): Cost changed from 750c to 800w. Crown Janissary building damage increase reduced by 50%.
• Tavern Wagon: Fixed a missing flag that prevented shared build limits with Taverns.
• 3 Settlers (I): Card added.
• Assembly cards: Fixed the missing Shipment cost for these cards: Robocizna (IV, Settlers): Cost changed from 500f to 600w. Piechota Dymowa (III, Piechurs): No changes. Towarzysze Pancerni (III, Cavalry Archers): Cost changed from 500f to 600w. Towarzysze Husarze (IV, Winged Hussars): Cost changed from 750f to 600w.
• Koncerz (II): Now also increases charge range from 3 to 4.
• Szlachta (III): Cavalry Archer costs reduced by -10% instead of -15%.
• Pancerni (IV): Now increases Cavalry Archers’ hand and ranged resistance by +5% each instead of ranged resistance by +10%.
• Polish Horsemanship (II): Winged Hussar’s Stampede damage weakened from 4 to 2 and ROF from 1 to 1.5.
• Leičiai Crossbowmen (IV): Increased 15% siege resistance to 20%.
• Imperial Leičiai Crossbowmen (V): Removed the extra 15% siege resistance and fixed the upgrade icon.
• Uprising cards (Cossacks & Warsaw Revolution): Added a cap of 40 possible units to all 5 Uprising cards.
• Cossack Hetmanate Revolution: Chern / Khutorian: Renamed to Khutorian. Gather rate reduced for Mines by -10% and for Trees by -5%. Building damage reduced by -6. Haidamaka: Obstruction radius increased from 0.59 to 0.79. Movement speed decreased from 7.25 to 7. Melee damage reduced from 14 to 9 and damage multipliers increased from 2x to 3x. Haidamaka Rifleman: Fixed an issue where the unit could not be detected in Stealth. Tabor: Now inflicts 0.5x damage versus Villagers. Haidamaky Uprising (Haidamakas): Cost added of 500f. Kosiński Uprising (Cossack Daredevils): Cost added of 250c. Khmelnytsky Uprising (Serdyuks, Starshyna): Cost added of 500c. Korsun Regiment (Cossack Daredevils): Now sends 8 Khutorians instead of 10.
• Duchy of Warsaw Revolution: Partitions: Standardized the number of units per Partition to 20. Now arrive in 60s instead of 40s. Second Partition: Now sends a mix of Vistula Hussars and Vistula Uhlans instead of only Vistula Hussars. Third Partition: Reduced the possible maximum of Artillery units to 10. 2 Cannons: Card removed. Duty-free Area (Kraków Republic): Cost changed from 300f 100w to 100 of each resource. Tax Haven (Kraków Republic): Cost increased from 300f 100w to 500w. Contraband (Kraków Republic): Cost increased from 300f 100w to 400f 200c. Kościuszko Uprising (Pikemen, Skirmishers): Cost of 250f added. November Uprising (Horse Artillery, Vistula Uhlans): Cost of 250c added. Jozef Bem Rockets: Cost of 1000w added.

Portuguese

• [NEW] Acobertados (III, 1000c): Sends some Portuguese Acobertado cavalry (heavy Elmetti) and enables them at Forts in the Industrial Age. Removes them from Taverns, if available.*
• Hire Italian Elmetti (IV): Card removed.
• TEAM House of Aviz (I): Now also applies to Hakkapelits.
• Grapeshot (IV): Organ Gun fire rate is now reduced by -0.15 instead of -0.25.*
• Ordenança: No longer reduces the costs of Ordinance Rifleman and keeps it at 40w 40f.*

Russians

• Strelet: Corrected the weapon sound from Musket to Rifle as well as weapon use in Defend and Melee animations.
• [NEW] 6 Cossacks (III): Card added.
• [NEW] Gulyay-Gorod (II): Sends 1 Fortified Wagon and allows producing them from Artillery Foundries for a split cost of wood and coin.*
• Strelet upgrades:* Veteran & Guard Streltsy (III, IV): Now each grants +1 range to the Strelet. Imperial Streltsy (V): Grants +1 range to the Strelet instead of +2.
• Strelet Horde (IV): Grants +1 range to the Strelet instead of +2.*
• Landed Gentry (I): Card moved to Age 2. Now also sends 3 Cavalry Archers (non-veteran).
• Treaty of Mozhaysk (II): Cost reduced from 350f to 300f.

Spanish

• Civilization Bonus: Shipment rate slightly decreased from -26% to -25%.
• Reconquista (II): Now also enables the training of up to 20 Conquistadors* in the Embassy, which cost 2 population slots.
• Tercio (IV): Now researches in 15s instead of 20s.

Swedes

• Carolean: Cost reduced from 65f 40c to 60f 40c.*
• Hakkapelit: Hitpoints increased from 205 to 215.* Range resistance reduced from 20% to 15%.* Corrected the melee damage from 26 to 24. Fixed the Trample mode that got lost after a previous update. Lowered Trample movement speed by 60% instead of 50%.*
• 2 Privateers (II), TEAM 2 Privateers (IV): Cards removed.
• 11 Vasa Allies (II): Card removed.
• [NEW] Archipelago Fleet (IV): Enables Gunboats with long-range ability, +4 Gunboats.
• [NEW] Contract Royal Arquebusiers (II): Sends 9 Royal Arquebusiers and enables them for training in the Barracks, costing 1 population slot.
• Gustavian Guards (Treaty of Roskilde): Reduced the amount of Halberdiers from 16 to 12, but now enables them in the Barracks.*
• Hire Royal Horsemen (IV): Card removed.
• Ranged Cavalry Combat (III): Fixed a bug that resulted in this being a team card.
• Savolax Jaegers (III, Treaty of Roskilde) : Savolax Jaeger costs increased from 80w 80c to 90w 90c.
• Surströmming (I): Increased fatten rate of 1 food per second to 2 food per second.

United States

• Cowboy: Damage of the charged attack reduced from 38 to 30.
• State Capitol: Train time of ALL State Capitol Wagons increased from 5 to 10 seconds. Mill and Estate Wagons are now properly affected by the Sudanese Hakura System technology.
• Chinese Immigrants (I): Trading Post Rickshaw Levy cooldown now takes 30% longer to recharge.
• Scottish Immigrants (II): Maximum count of Highlanders reduced from 10 to 9.
• Moultrie’s Militia: State Militia build speed reduced by 20%.*
• Shotgun Messengers (III): Now fires 6 bullet projectiles instead of 1 cannonball.*
• Kosciuszko Fortifications (IV): No longer reduces Fort build time and Cost time discounts reduced from -50% to -35%.*
• Connecticut Shipwrights (V, Connecticut): Now improves the build time for defensive buildings such as Outposts and Forts only by 15% instead of 25%.*

Revolutions

General

• Now grants a faster, standardized XP rate for civilizations with lower XP rates:
  • Germans, Italians, Maltese.

Argentina

• Lancers: Lancers and the Garrochistas upgrade are now also available in German and Italian Stables.
• Mounted Granadero: Costs reduced from 130f 50c to 120f 50c.

Brazil

• Bonifacio: Can now only be sent once and either sends a Gold or Diamond Prospector Wagon (instead of Coal, Silver, Copper). Mine yield effect increased from 8% to 15%.
• Brazilian Importers: No longer affects Basilica shipments.

Canada

• Fencibles: No longer improves Musketeer hitpoints by +10% and now increases range by +1 instead of +2.
• [NEW] Nova Scotia Gaels (1500f): Ships a mixed army of Stuart troops, featuring Lowlanders, Clansmen and Bagpipers.
• 14 Blackwatch Highlanders: Is no longer infinite and can only be sent twice.*
• Canadian Loyalists: Is no longer infinite and can only be sent twice.*

Finland

• Allotment System: Also researches Veteran and Guard Caroleans (Finland only).
• Armfelt Autonomy: Fixed an issue where the imperial Russian Cavalry Archer upgrade would not be discounted.*
• Gunboats: Now enables Gunboats in Docks instead of Imperial Monitors.

Haiti

• Revolution: Now also ships 6 Privateers upon revolting.*
• Maroon: Settlers turned into Maroons upon revolting no longer start damaged.

Hungary

• Magyar Hussar: Population costs increased from 2 to 3 and now has identical base hitpoints as the Magyar Hussar from the Habsburg natives. Fixed two instances where Magyar Hussars could get better combat values than intended. The Magyar Hussar will now overwrite Georgian Hussar visuals if the Georgian Hussars card was sent prior to revolting.
• Riding School, Cavalry Combat. Grenade Launchers: Cards added.
• [NEW] Honvédség: Crossbowmen, Azaps and Streltsy are fully replaced with Honvéds in Barracks, Blockhouses, and on the map. Honvéds are riflemen that inflict bonus damage against native auxiliaries and mercenaries.

Livonia

• Trade Monopoly: Is now available for this revolution.
• 1200 Mixed resources (infinite): Card added.
• 4 Fortified Wagons: Corrected string to 2 Fortified Wagons. Cost reduced from 500c to 250c.
• Kontors: Increased the resource trickle per Trading Post from 0.6 to 0.7.
• Mercenary Camps, Witch Hammer: No longer sends Uhlans for other civilizations than Germans. Fixed the Witch Hammer card missing for the Swedes.
• Monastic Granges: Enabled aura now properly improves Priest gather rate for natural resources.
• Riga Blackheads: Added a cost of 1000c.
• Teutonic Knight: Melee damage increased from 25 to 35 and multiplier against Cavalry reduced from 2.5x to 2x.
• Steel Bolts: Updated the tooltip to clarify the card’s application limited to Order Crossbowmen alone.
• Knight Brother: XP corrected from 30 to 24. Melee, trample and charge damage reduced from 30, 20 and 60 to 24, 16 and 50.
• High Master: Hitpoints and movement speed reduced from 1100 and 7.5 to 900 and 6.5.
• Order Musketeer: Ranged damage increased from 23 to 25 and Hand resistance increased from 20% to 30%.
• Order Crossbowman: Ranged damage increased from 18 to 21.

Mexico

• 6 Soldados (infinite): Card added.

Peru

• Galleon: Can now also train Inca units.
• Manco Inca: Fixed an issue where the Champion Macemen did not have Champion strength.

Romania

• Wallachian Horse Archers: Now improves Cavalry Archers’ rate of fire to a lesser degree if the Ottoman Flight Archery card was sent.

South Africa

• Raadsaal: Coin cost increased from 500c to 1000c.

United States

• Lee’s Continental Light Dragoons: Now converts Dutch Ruyters into Veteran Carbine Cavalry instead of their Guard version, which now needs to be researched in the Stable.
• Pulaski’s Uhlans: Units are now correctly called Polish Uhlans.

Independence Mode

This brand-new game mode available in The Baltic Powers is played without Home Cities and XP. To preserve unique characteristics of each civilization and culture the following bonuses are granted on launch:

Campaigns

General

• New Difficulty Levels: Added two brand-new difficulties to refresh the campaign experience:
  • STORY Mode: A relaxed, leisurely pace designed for players who want to focus on the narrative, granting significantly increased stats to all player units.
  • LUDICROUS Difficulty: The ultimate challenge for veteran players, drastically increasing the stats of all enemy and neutral units in the scenario while leaving yours untouched.
• Persistent Home City Progression: Overhauled how Home City levels function across single-player content to eliminate a highly confusing legacy system:
  • The Old System: Level progression was completely isolated to individual missions. Replaying an early scenario would reset your Home City back to a lower level and fail to contribute to your progress in later Acts.
  • The New System: Your Home City level is now entirely persistent across each Act (and across specific civilizations for the Asian Dynasties campaigns). Every action you take contributes to a unified persistent level, allowing you to max out your level or grind cards on Moderate difficulty before tackling Hard mode.
  • Note: All selected campaign cards and custom decks will be reset with this update. However, your highest achieved Home City level will safely carry over to the new system.
• Home City Card Requirements: Removed all hidden Home City level requirements for unlocking campaign cards that were completely hidden from the user interface, causing confusion when cards were locked without explanation. Due to the old level-reset system, many of these cards were previously impossible to obtain, too.
• AI Aggression & Targeting: Significantly reduced the chance of enemy armies being idle or walking passively past player units instead of attacking.
• AI Economy Constraints: Confined many AIs to their base for gathering resources to prevent their Settlers sprawling across the map, stealing player resources or becoming easy targets.
• Asian Campaign AI: Fixed a critical bug that completely broke the AI’s ability to Age-up during the Asian Dynasties campaigns.
• Co-op Medals: Fixed a progression bug that prevented players from earning completion medals when playing Historical Battles in Co-op mode, especially when a single player medal was already awarded.
• Choose New Cards: This button inside the Home City screen now dynamically changes appearance when you have unlock points available, helping players to recognize that new cards can be picked.
• Disabling obsolete UI:
  • The player communications window that can send orders to allied AIs is removed in all scenarios as campaign AIs are not scripted to accept player requests.
  • The player & game summary screens have been hidden for all campaigns and single-player Historical Battles, as they do not track mission-relevant data.
• Post-Cinematic Zoom: Updated all introduction cinematics to smoothly end on the Definitive Edition zoom level. Previously, camera tracks were still set to the zoom level of the legacy game.
• Speaker Icons: Fixed many speaker portraits showing a wrong portrait relative to the unit that’s actually speaking. Also corrected transparent icon parts.
• Native American civilization: The generic campaign civilization now uses the Lakota flag instead of no flag.
• Cursor Consistency: Hovering over non-interactable units no longer displays context-specific cursors, ensuring it consistently remains the default pointer.
• Explorer Animations: Explorers now always properly use a building animation when tasked to construct a structure, such as a Trading Post.
• Herd Behavior: Changed many animals to have proper herd behavior.

Blood, Ice, and Steel: Act 2

• Stuart: Fixed having an empty action being shown in the unit stat panel.
• Card icons: Fixed incorrect icon border and sometimes unit counters of 12 cards:

1. Defend the Colony
2. Strange Alliances
3. The Rescue
4. The Seven Years’ War
5. The Great Lakes
6. Respect
7. Bring Down the Mountain

Blood, Ice, and Steel: Act 3

• Major Cooper and Bolivar no longer show 3 empty attacks in their statistics panel.

1. Race for the Rails
2. Hold the Fort
3. The Boneguard’s Lair
4. The Lost Spanish Gold
5. Bolivar’s Revolt
6. Journey Through the Andes
7. Last City of the Inca
8. Last Stand of the Boneguard

Random Maps

New Historical Map

Celebrating the release of The Baltic Powers all players gain access to a Historical Map:

The Seven Years’ War

Definitive Edition

“Players start in different corners of a miniature world separated by the seas and try to gain global control of strategic points. “

Capture the majority of trading posts or flags to trigger a victory countdown.

• The two victory countdowns are not exclusive.
• Revolting is possible on this Historical Map.
• Dry Docks can be captured for warship construction and repair.

2 New Random Maps

Caspian Sea

Definitive Edition

“A large mountain range blocks early attacks, but can be cut through for direct attacks. Establish your water dominance to secure landing areas. Be careful about the narrow passage far east, which may be used for sneak attacks.”

Settlements: Sufi, Tengri
Outlaws: Crabat, Cossack Daredevil

Malta

Knights of the Mediterranean DLC

“On Malta players start with walled cities and nearby Fixed Guns that can be captured to keep invaders at bay. The picturesque Mediterranean landscape and access to European Royal Houses shall permit you enjoying life like a Knight of Malta.”

Settlements: Bourbon, Hanover, Phanar
Outlaws: Inquisitor, Sailor

Map Changes

• England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales: These maps now also have access to the new treasure set with British and Gaelic guardians present on new maps such as Shetlands, Faroe and Heligoland. The new House of Stuart is also available on these 3 maps: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
• Baltic Sea, Finland, Karelian Lakes: Now also have access to the new Sámi natives.
• Alaska: Terrain changed from grass to snow. Now supports Inuit natives and new Outlaws.
• Arctic Territories: Map renamed to Arctic Island. Now supports Inuit natives and new Outlaws.
• Yukon: Now also have access to the Inuit natives.
• Scandinavia: Map renamed to Jutland. Only supports the House of Oldenburg, but no longer the Houses of Vasa and Wittelsbach.
• Archipelago: Fixed an issue where the islands with mines couldn’t be landed on.*
• Florida: Markets now properly spawn for the new civilizations and player closest to the Trade Route in 4v4 no longer start without a Market.*
• France: Replaced the capturable Trade routes with standard ones. The previous version is now a separate map called France – Trade.
• Unknown: Fixed an issue with several spawns. Disabled several spawns of hero units to prevent confusion with hero skins (like Lao Chen or Fodio)
• Xebec: This naval mercenary is now available on the following 5 maps: Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Pepper Coast, Niger Delta, Tripolitania.
• War Dhow: This naval mercenary is now available on the following 6 maps: Horn, Swahili Coast, Ceylon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo.

Standard Maps

• Removed: Deccan, Horn, Arctic Island (previously Arctic Territories)
• Added: Siberia, Panama, Painted Desert, France, Hudson Bay, Labrador, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Swedish Lakes

Team Maps

• Added: Bering Strait, Greenland, Sápmi, South Norway, Heligoland, France

Historical Maps

• Fixed a bug that would continue to render a red outline for corrected civilization picks.
• Danes & Poles have been added as recommended civilizations to: Thirty Years’ War, The Deluge, The Great Northern War, The Napoleonic Wars.
• Poles have also been added as recommended civilization to: The Great Turkish War, The Russo-Turkish War.

Scripting

• Minor optimizations for rmAddTriggerCondition and rmAddTriggerEffect.
• Implemented rmSetTriggerConditionParamUnit and rmSetTriggerEffectParamUnit syscalls for safely assigning unitIDs to trigger condition/effect parameters in RM triggers. Takes up the same parameters as rmSetTriggerConditionParamInt and rmSetTriggerEffectParamInt, respectively.
• Implemented rmTriggerAddScriptLine syscall for appending a script line to the generated trigtemp.xs.
• Implemented rmTriggerAddScriptInclude syscall for including a trigger XS script file, which will be read either from the game data Trigger folder or from local user data Trigger folder.
• Implemented rmGetUnitScenarioName, for returning the internal string identifier for a provided unit ID. Syntax: rmGetUnitScenarioName(int unitID).
• Implemented rmGetIsRegicide(), rmGetIsIndependence() and rmGetIsRecommendedSettings() syscalls to check whether or not we are on Regicide Mode, Independence mode or playing a map with Recommended Settings set as enabled, respectively.
• Fixed cases in which Trade Route trader could get permanently removed during Random Map generation.

Scenario Editor

We have given the Scenario Editor a thorough makeover, starting with a sleek new Dark Theme. Here are some more highlights!

• Quick Playtest: Added a dedicated Playtest button in the right top corner, allowing creators to instantly test their scenarios.
• Animation Viewer: Implemented a brand-new tool in the Objects menu to easily preview animations, attachment points, and visual variations of placed units directly inside the editor.
• Convert Units Tool: Implemented a new tool to instantly convert the player ownership of units.
• Camera Editor Overhaul: Upgraded the Camera Editor with precision sliders for Scroll Speed and Pitch, toggles for Camera rotation and lock, and buttons for reset commands. Additionally, creators can now set custom starting camera positions for each player using the new Camera Start Location tool.
• XS Scripts Tool: Implemented a dedicated tool for managing and executing XS Scripts directly within the editor.
• Game Settings: Can now be accessed via the File menu.
• Active Player: Decoupled the object placement player from the active player and added a feature to choose the Active Player in the Scenario Editor. A warning is now displayed when attempting to save a scenario while active player is not set to Player 1.
• Unsaved Changes: Scenarios are no longer internally marked as ‘modified’ upon opening, even if no changes have been made, avoiding improper prompts for discarding unsaved changes from being displayed.
• Distance Checker: Implemented a new Distance Checker tool in the World menu to precisely measure spacing and range across maps.
• DLC Toggles: Removed deprecated toggles for The Warchiefs and The Asian Dynasties toggles from menu bar.
• Ignore Placement Restrictions and Terrain Grid: Actual gameplay is no longer affected when toggled in the Editor.
• Object Placement: Moved the Place Wall and Convert to Gate tools into this menu
• Player Data: Extended Player Data dialog to allow for modifying handicap, starting population and population limit for players, and displaying file paths for AI and HC files for each player, when applicable. Implemented support for assigning raw text to Fake Player and Fake Civilization names, without the need of relying on existing stringtable IDs. Removed unused Color 2 and Color 3 fields from Fake Player Data dialog. Fixed Editor Scenario Player data being replaced with last Skirmish lobby information
• File Loading: Selecting AI, Home City or Grouping files no longer causes the file browser to improperly prompt for discarding unsaved changes. The editor’s temporary playtest file is now properly displayed in the Recent Scenarios dialog.
• Edit Cliff Tool: Now properly displays cliff name when selecting a cliff.
• Forbidden Units/Techs: Added a player selection dropdown.
• Object Info: Implemented support for Object Notes and displaying Linked Triggers for Object Info dialog.
• Place Route Tool: Implemented support for selecting trade route types.

AI

• Reworked how the AI decides what army composition to go for.
  • Old System: 3 separate unit types would be trained, which could in the worst case end up being a composition of 3 different mercenaries or 3 different types of artillery and nothing else.
  • New System: Mercenaries and Native Warriors are sprinkled in but do not prevent mainline units from being trained. The AI will always maintain a set of infantry and cavalry and on top of that add artillery. This ensures AI armies are more varied and always contain proper units.
• Overhauled deck building: The AI should now be more consistent in picking useful upgrades and genuinely strong unit shipments.
• Improved the training of dedicated scouts so that the AI doesn’t train too many of them, and ensured they aren’t accidentally recognized as a valid army unit.
• Fixed a bug that would cause the AI to not recognize Trade Routes on some map types.
• Added support for a lot more unique Historical Map mechanics such as building unique buildings or attacking map objectives.
• Fishing Ships that no longer have resources to gather may now be deleted by the AI to free up population space.
• Changed the logic for when the AI starts fishing so that it’s more consistent, allowing it to happen earlier into the game.

Update 19.18309 is a particularly broad release for Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, with changes reaching nearly every part of the game. Tell us which addition or balance change you plan to try first, share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.